The Lord Collector

The Lord Collector – A Raven’s Shadow Novella

A Raven’s Shadow novella originally published in the Blackguards anthology from Ragnarok Publications. Here’s my intro to the story:

‘The following story takes place in the same world as my novel Blood Song, the first volume in the Raven’s Shadow trilogy. I wrote it because I wanted to more fully explore characters who appear in Blood Song and the sequels Tower Lord and Queen of Fire. Readers familiar with my work are sure to recognize a certain pale-eyed, raspy-voiced Sword Master of the Sixth Order, and those curious as to the origins of the Tower Lord of the Southern Shore will find answers here. The tale takes place at the midpoint of the timeline described in Blood Song, a time when King Janus, with typical ruthlessness, is in the process of further consolidating his grip on the Unified Realm.’

‘The Lord Collector by Anthony Ryan: a grim introduction to our protagonist, Jehrid, leader of an Excise Guard unit (think a kind of investigative military) to kick this story off. Jehrid is tasked by his Tower Lord with working with Brother Sollis of the Sixth Order and two others with finding a passenger from a month-old shipwreck. But Jehrid has another agenda: vengeance. A story told with standard Anthony Ryan style. Enjoyable, violent, somber at times and galloping like a horse at others.’ – Adrian Collins, Grimdark Magazine